Tag Archives: civil war battlefields

Petersburg Virginia, Civil War Battlefield

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Virginia and Civil War equals Battlefields, and I love it. The Petersburg National Battlefield is a historic landmark for Civil War geeks and American history fans to explore. So many monuments, exhibits, walking paths, you can spend days there exploring.

The siege of Petersburg lasted nearly 10 long months. From June of 1864 thru April of 1865 the largely out numbered Confederate Army lead by General Beauregard protected Richmond from capture with intricate defensive lines of trenches and earthworks throughout the high ground.

With nearly 70,000 casualties during the siege ( 42,000 Union and 28,000 Confederate) on June 18th 1864 the 1st Maine Heavy Artillery sustained the largest loses of any regiment as 850 men advanced across a cornfield to capture a Confederate line. With no Union troops to protect there flanks the Confederates opened fire mowing down 632 Union troops in a mere 10 minutes, unfortunately for the Maine regiment not one man reached the Confederate line.

But the Battle of the Crater is what Petersburg is mostly known for. The 48th Pennsylvania Infantry tunneled a mine shaft 500 feet long, under the area where the Confederate line was. On July 30, 1864 they packed cavities under the Confederate line with 8000 pounds of explosives and ignited the fuse. The blast killed more then 300 South Carolinians and created a large gap measuring 170” long, 110” wide, 30” deep in the Confederate line.

Brigadier General William Mahone is largely credited with rallying the Confederate troops, counter attacking the Union troops as they rushed into the crater, he would later say it was like a “turkey shoot”. The Union attack failed due to poor planning and leadership. Union Casualties were staggering, with 504 killed, 1881 wounded 1413 missing or captured for a total of 3,798 versus Confederate casualties of 1491 with 361 killed, 727 wounded and 403 missing or captured. Many of the Union losses were from Ferrero’s United States Colored Troops. Major General Ambrose Burnside was relieved of his command shortly after his role in the debacle.

Cold Harbor Battlefield

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Coming up from Florida in May of this year my wife and I stopped at a bunch of Civil War Battlefields in the Richmond Virginia area. Petersburg, The Seven Days Battle at Gaines Mill, Totopotomoy Creek, Cold Harbor and the Chandler house at Fairfield, Guinea Station the place where Stonewall Jackson Died are just a few of the American landmarks we visited.

With so much to explore I was in Civil War exploration overload. I mean there was just so much to see and do I was just in my glory. I would say I was a bit taken by the lack of resources that have been used to maintain these historic landmarks but I guess it’s typical of American Politicians (with the allocation of money)not to care about our history especially in the South, it’s just not politically correct these days. Bummer.

So anyway I’m sure you have better things to do then listen to me drone on about my opinions when it comes to politics, so let’s move on.

If you haven’t been to the Cold Harbor Battlefield you have to drop what your doing and go NOW, I mean it. It has some of the best preserved entrenchments any where. The Confederate trenches are soooooo cool. There are paths that follow the trenches that allow you to understand the topography of the land. Understanding this allows you to see just what a dominate defensive position the Confederate Army had and why it was such an overwhelming victory for the South.

I must warn you to NOT WALK THROUGH THE TRENCHES, they are American historic jewels and the more there disturbed the more they erode. Plus the park rangers will give you a hard time.

My Gr.Gr. grandfather Richard Jones and his brother Thomas Jones served in Co. C, 38th Battalion Virginias Light Artillery part of Read Battalion. On June 2nd and 3 rd 1864, both brothers were positioned with there battery at the spearhead of the Northern assault. Fortunately Richard survived the campaign without incident, Thomas on the other hand wasn’t so fortunate. He was WIA, June, 3rd 1864 with a flesh wound to the right leg and spent the rest of the war in and out of Chimborazo and Stuart Hospitals in Richmond Virginia.

For anyone wanting to read more about this Robert H. Moore is the author of “The Richmond Fayette, Hampden, Thomas, and Blounts Lynchburg Artillery” this is a limited edition book out of print these days but still available through specialty book stores online.